See Benedict Cumberbatch pretend he’s a dragon for ‘The Hobbit’ performance capture sessions

Many fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth already know that it was English actor and current Hollywood “It Dude” Benedict Cumberbatch ("Star Trek Into Darkness") who provided the voice of the fearsome dragon Smaug in Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.” But most Tolkienites probably don’t know the lengths that Cumberbatch went to get into character.

As the “Desolation of Smaug” behind-the-scenes video seen above shows, Cumberbatch not only breathed fiery life into the gold-coveting dragon with his voice but also with his body. Much like Jackson and Andy Serkis did with Gollum, Cumberbatch's entire performance was digitally captured for the role of Smaug. His facial expressions and body movements were digitally tracked by visual effects studio Weta and translated by animators into the enormous dragon’s performance.

"Using our motion-capture stage, we recorded his performances, which focused on the conversation with Bilbo sequence,” Weta animation supervisor David Clayton told The Hollywood Reporter. “Having Benedict in a mocap suit was lots of fun -- for us, and hopefully for him, too -- and seemed to help get him immersed and home in on the character."

Weta’s computer animation wizards then had to transmute the actor’s human performance into the fantasy creature.

"The translation of performance from Benedict to Smaug wasn't a one-to-one match like you'd get from a humanoid creature. They have very different physiologies," Clayton said. "As animators we had to transpose the elements of Benedict's performance that were critical to the shot, such as head nuances and facial expressions. We then built up the majority of his motion with keyframe animation"

It’s not everyday that an actor gets to play a full-fledged dragon. Though there are only a few fleeting glimpses of Cumberbatch in action as Smaug, it’s amazing how well his performance shines through all that CGI.

Unsurprisingly, “Desolation of Smaug” is up for the Best Visual Effects Oscar on March 2. “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” hits Blu-ray and DVD on April 8.